“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…”
M.F.K. Fisher

Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács … it was a few months ago that I discovered the magic of bread art! That was thanks to the Daring Bakers and I was led into this fascinating world. Until then, bread to me meant rustic, moorish, artisan breads. From then on, Hungarian Kalács became one of our firm favourites. Mine to bake, and ‘theirs’ to eat!

Going back to the bread art challenge {pictured above}, that was one of my most enriching experiences, and a most delicious one at that. Soon after making the vegetarian version of the Hungarian Kalács, I made a non vegetarian one too for the carnivores at home. In went chicken, walnuts, bell peppers and rocket! It’s taken me some time to share it, but here I am, better late than never!

That version was a plain all purpose flour and vegetarian one. These Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács are part whole grain as the name suggests. I had to experiment with the dough given my shift to whole grains. The dough worked brilliantly and the bread was gone before we knew it.

Few things to keep in mind. My dough was a little soft though very pliable. Every flour type absorbs liquid differently, so bear that in mind. It’s always better to add the last 1/4 cup a little at a time. Gloopy dough makes me weep!! Another thing worth considering is the weather. Hot summers mean really quick dough rising and often an unmanageable dough. Try and chill the dough slightly before use, and work quick. Try keep the dusting flour to a minimum as it takes away from the end product.

Just writing about it makes my mouth water. I think I just might be headed off into the kitchen to make some dough! I love how nicely it comes together, and how easy it is to serve. Makes for great finger food too and a nice centre piece for the party table! Always nice to have an eye catching item of food which gives folk something more to talk about and devour! This bread, art and all, is one of those things!!

Summary:These Savoury Whole Wheat Hungarian Kalács make great party of finger foods and are bursting with flavour. Use fillings of your choice to play around. This savoury bread is sure to please! The Twisted Buns are another variation using the same dough and filling. Serves 4-6Prep Time: 20 minutesTotal Time: 1 hourIngredients:# 1

Savoury dough

150g whole wheat flour

150g all purpose flour

2 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

25g Parmesan

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

200g buttermilk, tepid

30 ml extra virgin olive oil

Filling

50g cheese spread

Small bunch rocket, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped

2 small chicken breasts, cooked, chopped

1 tsp red chili flakes

50g walnuts, finely chopped

75g mature cheddar, grated

15ml low fat cream {or 1 beaten egg} for wash

10g melon seeds {or sesame, pumpkin etc}

Method:

Savoury wholewheat dough

Place both the flours, Parmesan, yeast and salt in the bowl of food processor and pulse on high speed to mix.

Add the buttermilk,cloves, olive oil and garlic and knead to a smooth dough.

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl, seal with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for dough to double, about 1 hour.

Assemble

Once the dough has doubled, preheat the oven to 200C.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into two.On a lightly floured surface {or on parchment paper}, roll one half into an 10″ circle.{My tray wasn’t big enough, so I kept reserved some dough to make twisted buns with the same filling.

Transfer the circle to the baking sheet and spread the cheese spread uniformly. Sprinkle over chopped rocket, bell peppers, walnuts and red chili flakes, followed by the finely chopped chicken, and finally grated cheddar.

Roll the other half of the dough to another 10″ circle and place over the first half, pressing down gently.

Place a glass in the centre and cut the remaining dough 4 times, then divide each into a further 4. You will get a total of 16 spokes {refer pictures}

Gently lift each spoke and twist it 3 times. Brush over with cream gently and sprinkle melon seeds over the centre. {You can always brush with a beaten egg to get a beautiful glow.}

Bake for 30-35 minutes until light golden brown and firm to touch.

Cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack. Serve warm or room temperature.

For Twisted buns, please see this images. Divide the remaining dough into 2, and roll into balls, then flatten. On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball into a long elliptical oval about 4″ across and 8-10 inches long.

Spread with cheese spread and remaining toppings as above {since I made smaller circles for the kalac, I had some filling left.}

With a sharp knife {I used a pizza cutter},cut diagonal strips leaving a 1/2″ border from the edge. Roll into a long cylinder, then into a circle. Pick up and place in a parchment lined pie tin. Brush the top with low fat cream, sprinkle over melon seeds, and bake at 200C for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool in the tins for about 30 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack gently with an offset spatula.

Like this:

“A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in. A minute to smile and an hour to weep in. A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the moans come double. And that is life.”
Paul Laurence Dunbar

100% Whole Wheat Bread. Couldn’t ask for anything more in a whole grain bread. This was my first 100% whole wheat bread experiment and I had my fingers crossed.

I had huge bowls of olive oil standing by for dunking just in case it was too dense to eat. Butter too. Impatiently tore one end off to look at the crumb. Was I relieved or what! Yay, airy bread!!Nice moist crumb, airy bread and great aroma. We loved it. Loved it with butter too. Nothing like fresh warm bread and butter. It was great to mop up the cheesy paprika gravy of the mushroom chicken which was meant to be the star that day. Bread took centre stage instead!As another first, I added some top of the milk cream{or malai} to the dough. I had some in the fridge. It was an idea I had picked up while speaking to Sangeetaon our trip to the vineyards at Baramati. I think that’s what clinched the crumb! And the extra water or hydration of course.Since the dough is quite loose, I’d recommend kneading the dough in a processor. I did it in the Thermomix. It’s a stringy, sticky dough that gets a little more manageable after the first rise. Even more manageable after a slight rest in the fridge. Shape the dough with wet hands and you should be fine.The aroma that filled the house had everyone following their nose to the kitchen. An impatient queue waited to ‘break bread‘! Inching forward to getting more whole grains into my bread, this is one journey I am loving! I made another batch of bread dough today.Maybe will try a small fougassewith a portion of the dough tomorrow. Infinite possibilities, so much promise!

This post is part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge.
This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things.
This month is hosted by Marija from Palachinka.

[print_this]Recipe: 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Summary: Couldn’t ask for anything more in a whole grain bread.This was my first 100% whole wheat bread experiment and I had my fingers crossed. Nice moist crumb, airy bread and great aroma. We loved it. Loved it with butter too. Nothing like fresh warm bread and butter. Yield:2 small loaves to serve 8.

Prep Time: 10 minutesTotal Time: 1 hourIngredients:

400g whole wheat flour {aata}

2 tsp active dry yeast

265ml lukewarm water

100g top of the milk cream {malai}

1t minced garlic {4-5 cloves}

1t red chili flakes

2t dried herbs

1 1/2 t salt

Topping

1 tsp whole wheat flour to sprinkle on top

Method:

In the bowl of a standing mixer and add all the ingredients in the order mentioned.

Mix briefly, then knead for approx 3 minutes. This should result in a smooth yet sticky,stringy dough.

Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, turned over with damp hands to coat with oil.

Cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for about an hour to double.

Preheat the oven to 250C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn dough onto parchment paper and shape into loaf with damp hands. I tried to give it a few rolls as well. Sprinkle over with a little whole wheat flour and leave to rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats.

Pop into a hot oven, reduce the temperature to 200C and bake for 35-45 minutes until cracked on top and hollow to sound when tapped underneath.

Remove to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: My oven uses only the bottom element for baking. Please keep an eye if your oven uses both the top and bottom elements so that the top doesn’t burn. I made 2 loaves {2/3rd dough first time to get a long loaf, and 1/3rd the second time for a round small loaf. You can slash the top with a fine bladed knife before you pop it into the oven if you like.

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts!”
James Beard

Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse … nothing can be as comforting as the smell of bread baking. Nothing! And this bread took me by surprise. Rustic, nutty, earthy, full of flavour, great texture and a good bite. I couldn’t ask for anything more in fresh bread, and fougasse is one of my all time favourites.

Googling for whole wheat focaccia took me to a NY Times feature by Martha Rose Shulman. Recipes for health as it was aptly marked, Shulman says of this bread “What’s called focaccia in Italy is fougasse in Provence. Fougasse, though, is often shaped like a leaf, which is easy to do and very pretty. The nutty, toasty whole grain bread is irresistible.”I couldn’t agree more. If you’ve visited my blog on and off, you might have noticed my love for the French Fougasse. I love the rustic appeal it offers and the fact that you can stuff it with pretty much whatever you like and the flavours call your name. Roasted bell peppers, gouda, fresh herbs, nuts etc. Leaf like in appearance, this flatbread is moorish!

It was just the therapy I needed this Monday! The day began like a nightmare! Broken toilet flush 6am. Reversed the car to drop the kids to school and heard a massive THUD! 7am … The engine underplate had broken while wading through the ‘rivers of North India‘ the previous night. When it rains, it really pours; the city was flooded! Thankfully got the kids out of my way and to school, to come back home to find I had run out of cooking gas! {Yes we still have cylinders}. Decided to spring clean and walked straight into a sharp corner which narrowly missed my eye. Blood poured down the side of my face! Mr PAB was in Hong Kong … and I could have wept!

Bravely I did not! I decided to bake bread instead! What a good decision. Nothing like some yeasty dough to drown your sorrows into. It worked like magic. And the recipe came out amazingly good! I could visualize the bread loving younger teen take a deep happy breath as he entered home from school. “You’ve made bread!!”, he’d exclaim, stars in his eyes!

That is enough to mend a bad day! What I didn’t visualise was how much the dieting diva, carb cutting daughter would love it. I made half of the dough into fougasse and saved the rest for another day {it refrigerates well for a day or two}. With garlic flavouring the dough beautifully, and walnuts and cheddar making it divine, the bread was history as soon as the teens got home!

Recipes like this are seriously therapeutic. I forgot about the car, fixed the broken loo, got the gas going. Left the car for Mr PAB. He would come back and take over everything! I was born to bake, and I was loving it!! The smell of dough rising and bread baking is enough to make the soul happy!

With the good verdict on the fougasse, I pulled the remaining dough out of the fridge the next day and patted a focaccia into shape. That came out yummy too. Got stuffed with everything I had on hand, ending up as sandwich for dinner.

[print_this]Recipe: Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse

Summary:Whole Wheat Walnut Garlic Cheddar Fougasse … nothing can be as comforting as the smell of bread baking. The bread took me by surprise. Rustic, nutty, earthy, full of flavour, great texture and a good bite. Couldn’t ask for anything more in fresh bread. Fougasse is one of my all time favourites. Yield: 1 large or 2 smaller fougasses or focaccia, about 12 generous servings. Minimally adapted from NY Times

In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, whole wheat flour, all-purpose and salt and mix together briefly using the paddle attachment. Change to the dough hook and beat for 8 to 10 minutes at medium speed, adding the remaining flour as necessary. The dough should eventually form a ball around the dough hook and slap against the sides of the bowl as the mixer turns but it will be sticky. Remove from the bowl, flour your hands and knead for a minute on a lightly floured surface, and shape into a ball.

{Thermomix: Place all dough ingredients in bowl of TM and process at Speed 6 for 10 seconds. Then knead at interval speed for 3 minutes}

If kneading the dough by hand, dissolve the yeast in the water with the sugar as directed. Stir in the walnut oil, whole wheat flour, salt, and all-purpose flour by the half-cup, until the dough can be scraped out onto a floured work surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, for 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic. Shape into a ball.

Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in it, rounded side down first, then rounded side up. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours, until doubled.

Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into two equal pieces for smaller breads. You can also make 1 large fougasse or focaccia.

Roll one half out to about an 12″ oval, spread half the walnuts and cheddar. Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing.

Shape each back into a flattish ball, then fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong.

Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts, leaf like. {Repeat with other half, else make focaccia with it}

Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40 minutes while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, sprinkle over sea salt and fresh herbs.

Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes till golden brown. Brush with more olive oil as they come out of the oven. Cool on racks. Serve warm {that’s how we love it} or at room temperature.

Speaking at TEDx

Deeba Rajpal

Food stylist | Recipe developer | Food writer
Non-conformist, a 'rabid' baker cum food blogger from Gurgaon, for whom visual appeal holds as much significance as healthy & delicious food. An obsessed baker and cook, a 'locavore' by design, who enjoys getting food to the table with seasonal ingredients and local produce.
Give me an ingredient, offer me an idea, that's enough for the magic to begin. I love stirring a good curry too!